Impact of field strength and RF excitation on abdominal diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging

Table 4 Image quality: Median values and percent of diagnostic studies

Image quality	Median-Patients		Median-Volunteers		No loss in diagnostic value		Non-diagnostic/low diagnostic value
	Reader 1	Reader 2	Reader 1	Reader 2	Patients	Volunteers	Patients	Volunteers
non-dpTX 3.0T	1	1	1	1.5	26%	40%	74%	60%
dpTX 3.0T	3	3	3	3	98%	100%	2%	0%
1.5T	3	3	2.5	3	94%	100%	6%	0%

The left half of the table depicts mean values as rated by the two radiologists based on the 4-point ordinal scale in which “3” = good for interpretation without noticeable limitations, “2” = adequate for basic interpretation with minor limitations, “1” = poor for basic interpretation, “0” = non-diagnostic and not adequate for basic interpretation. The right half of the table illustrates the percentage of images deemed to have “No loss in diagnostic value” (scored as ≥ 2) vs“Non-diagnositc/Low Diagnostic Value” (scored as ≤ 1). Numbers in bold are statistically different from the other two numbers within the column.